When the Fog Lifts, When the Smoke Fades
by Bura-sama
Summary: An awful mistake leaves Pan dead and another lands her into Hell. There she finds love in someone she never thought possible. (Pan/Nappa)
1. Dream of Me

1313  
Bura-sama  
Thursday. May. 23. 2002  
Thursday. May. 23. 2002

Disclaimer: DBZ is copyrighted by BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION, and is licensed by FUNimation. Dragon Ball Z and all logos, character names, and distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of TOEI ANIMATION. Eh... I'm doing this for fun, not profit.

Warnings: Eh.. My poor excuse for humor. There's death in the second chapter. Sex in the third. Some implied shounen-ai in the first chapter (for humor only). No Pan bashing, no one is paired with anyone non-cannon (except for the main pairing). This is Nappa and Pan.

When the Fog Lifts, When the Smoke Fades  
_Chapter One_

------------------------------------------

"Marron, honey. Wake up."

Marron slowly blinked her eyes open when she realized that someone was talking to her. She looked around the room till her gaze found her mother sitting at the foot of her bed. "Mom?"

"Marron, I've been giving this a lot of thought, and well, honey---" She paused, her gaze flitting about the room 

Marron was drifting back to sleep, but she still tried to concentrate on her words.

"-- I'm leaving your father."

Marron was suddenly wide awake and staring dumbfounded at her mother. "What!?"

"Well, it's no secret that your father is financially-- well, poor. Living on this island with that perverted old man..." She sighed dramatically. "The stress is beginning to be too much for me." She reached over and straightened a stray piece of blonde hair that had escaped from her daughter's braid. "You're almost twenty now, and I want you to know that you're welcome to stay here or you can come with me."

Marron stuttered as she watched her mother merely look at her patiently. "Where are you going to go?"

"I've been thinking about that a lot, as well. I need to be somewhere where I can have what I need to have. This might be a little rough for you, honey, I understand that. You know that Gohan's ex-father-in-law -- er.. Pan's grandfather has a lot of money, right?"

Marron sank back to the bed, shaking. "Mom! I can't believe this! This is just a sick joke, right? You have to be kidding me. What did Dad say about all of this?"

Juuhachigou looked uncomfortable all of a sudden. "I haven't exactly told Kuririn yet." She looked up into her daughter's watering eyes. "I need you to tell him for me, Marron. I don't think I could stand to break his heart..." She trailed off and almost looked guilty. "Besides, I have someone already in line to take his place."

Marron sprang upright and stared at her mother with unbelieving eyes, Son Goku had appeared beside her mother and was wrapping a muscled arm around her shoulder.

"I tried to talk Juuhachigou into moving in with me, but your mother wouldn't have it. She said that ChiChi's life insurance check wouldn't be enough to cover all of the expenses. And of course, we couldn't tap into Pan's college fund--"

"It had already been sucked dry. Evidently, Videl had had a spending problem when she was still married to Gohan." Her mother had a bitter look on her face.

Marron was in shock and said the first thing that came to mind, "What kind of expenses can Son Goku cover that Dad can't?"

Juuhachigou moved her hand down lightly to her flat abdomen. "We didn't want to tell you until everything was settled, but Marron--"

Goku finished for her, "-- You're going to have a little brother or sister."

Her mother smiled, "And besides, Marron. Goku has a nice ass."

Marron fainted back onto her bed.

-----------------------------------------------

"I swear, I am never eating anchovies on pizza again before I go to bed." Marron clutched her three shopping bags closer to her chest and shuddered. "It was SO real. One minute I'm reaching for the light switch, and the next--"

"Wait a minute," Son Pan stopped her friend's tirade. "In your little dream, my _grandfather_ shows up in your bedroom, announces that your _mother_ is having his baby, and they leave together to move in with my _other_ grandfather. Am I hearing this right?" Her eyes carried a vaguely disturbed look.

"That's what I heard." Bura looked over to her friends and closed her cell phone. "And yes, I do listen to you when you have problems."

"Was that your new boyfriend?"

Bra glared at Pan and then picked up her purse. "He was. I told him that we were going to have dinner at my place with my family. He couldn't break up with me fast enough." She sighed heavily and then snapped her fingers. "Boys."

Marron didn't need to turn around to confirm that they were following them. The loud rustle of bags being picked up and banged together told her that they weren't too far behind. "Anyway, back to my problem. I think that that was the weirdest dream I've ever had."

"Did you tell your parents about it?" Pan asked with a glint of humor in her voice.

"No way! My dad would freak out."

"I don't know, Marron. Maybe you really shouldn't eat anchovies on your pizza." Marron finally turned around and eyed the boys walking behind them. There were no less than thirty shopping bags and boxes piled across both of them.

She looked to the one on the left, the one that had spoken, "Goten--"

"Uncle Goten." Marron cringed. Pan could have a really high pitch if she wanted to. "This is a girl conversation! You're not supposed to listen in!"

"Yeah, Goten," Trunks interrupted from the right pile of bags. "When the girls want our commentary, they'll be sure to ask for it."

Pan shot Trunks a small, flirty smile and suddenly Trunks stopped laughing. Marron wondered how he even saw it.

-------------------------------------

"I can't believe that you were flirting with my brother!" Bra 'hmph'ed and started taking a few of her newly-acquired wardrobe pieces to her dresser. "Trunks is such a dork!"

"I was just messing with him," Pan sounded almost annoyed. "As if anyone could have a crush on Trunks!"

"Actually..." 

Bra and Pan's heads immediately turned to look at a hesitant Marron. "What?'

Marron blushed and turned away, "There was another part of my dream that I didn't want to discuss in front of Trunks and Goten..."

Pan perked up, "Oh?"

"Well, after the little 'family discussion,' I was at the beach or something, and Trunks was there." The other two girls leaned in closer, "He had on really tight Speedo, and he was making out with--"

-------------------------------------------------

Trunks was handing another bag of clothes to Goten so that they could unload the car and go spar. He reached for the last box and fell backwards as two high-pitched screams shrieked out from inside Bra's room.

Trunks and Goten immediately raced into Capsule Corp. and ran at an inhuman speed to Bra's room. Trunks pushed open the door to find Marron sitting on the bed, looking slightly nauseous, and Pan and Bra screaming at the top of their lungs. Goten appeared behind Trunks a few seconds later and casually put his hand next to Trunks's. Bra saw them first and, defying the impossible, her scream grew even louder and she started jumping from foot to foot and waving her hands frantically around her face. Pan wasn't doing much better. She had her hands over her mouth and was attempting to stop her screams.

Pan succeeded first, and her face turned angry and somewhat scared. Bra followed suit a second later, only she started to hyperventilate.

Pan jumped in front of Goten and pointed her finger in his face. "Grandma wants you home, NOW!"

Goten looked terribly confused, and Marron couldn't blame him. The queasiness in her stomach wouldn't settle. Goten blinked a few times, "What?"

"Grandma wants to see you NOW! So go home!!" She looked like she wanted to scream again. Instead, she settled on pointing out the window in the general direction of home.

"That's cool, Goten. I'll go with you and we can fight near your house." Trunks slapped his arm around Goten's shoulders.

Bra paled. "No!" She took a deep breath let it all out in a window-shaking scream, "DADDY!!! Trunks wants to spar with you!"

Trunks paled and looked over to Goten.

Pan pushed Trunks's arm off from around her uncle. "Uncle Goten, Grandma said she wanted to see you right NOW! Don't keep her waiting!"

"But Pan, you haven't talked to my mom all day--"

"GO!"

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END CHAPTER ONE

* * *


	2. It's a Sin

1198  
Bura-sama  
Thursday. May. 23. 2002  
Thursday. May. 23. 2002  


Disclaimer: DBZ is copyrighted by BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION, and is licensed by FUNimation. Dragon Ball Z and all logos, character names, and distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of TOEI ANIMATION. Fun, this is for fun!

Warnings: Eh.. My poor excuse for humor. There's death in the second chapter. Sex in the third. Some implied shounen-ai in the first chapter (for humor only). No Pan bashing, no one is paired with anyone non-cannon... This is Nappa and Pan.

When the Fog Lifts, When the Smoke Fades  
_Chapter Two_

------------------------------------------

Pan couldn't get the image out of her mind. Ever since Marron had told her about the dream she had had of Trunks and Goten, Pan was repulsively obsessed. She had immediately started going through past conversations, things that Trunks and Goten would do to each other. It was sick, and yet... fascinating.

"Ugh, that's an awfully small stick."

Pan's head whipped up to the sound of voices, and she realized that she was home. Her grandmother had hung up sheets which were blowing in the wind. They smelled of lavender. Fresh flowers sat in a vase on the window sill. The sky seemed brighter, the air smelled cleaner. She looked around but didn't see her grandmother anywhere. For a brief moment, she wanted to _really_ be home, with her parents. But, they weren't due back from their vacation for another week. In fact, her father--

"Well, your stick isn't any bigger." Pan's eyes grew wide as she recognized Trunks's voice.

"It's the best I have!" Goten shouted back. Pan could see the silhouettes moving from behind the sheet. "You never complained before!"

Pan's hand darted up to her mouth and she felt very sick.

"Let's just get on with it."

"Fine!" She saw Goten move closer to Trunks, and then heard Trunks groan as he fell slack in Goten's grasp.

"You're no good at this Goten. Let's do something different."

She saw them touching each other and turned away. She needed to get away from her uncle and his "friend."

--------------------------------------------

Trunks landed a punch to Goten's abdomen and watched with triumph as the younger man doubled over. He smirked proudly and crossed his arms over his chest. The boring day had just gotten a little better. Gardening for ChiChi hadn't been very fun. Using some twigs that they had found nearby, they had tried to aerate the soil. Goten had complained that it wasn't working very well, and they had quit. What did he want him to do? Cut down a tree? Sparring hadn't been much fun, until, of course, Trunks had started landing in some solid blows.

"Ka..."

Trunks's head whipped up to see Goten gathering energy.

"...Me..."

Goten had that goofy grin on his face. It wouldn't be a big blast.

"...Ha..."

"...Me..."

Trunks considered blocking the blast, but instead decided that he would dodge it. It would be more unexpected.

"...HA~!" 

Trunks waited until he could feel the heat coming at him, and then jerked his body out of the way. He and Goten stared wide-eyed as the blast flew by where Trunks was and crashed into ChiChi's freshly hung laundry.

Goten raced over to the smoking fabric, and held it up to the air. "Oh, CRAP."

Trunks started to comment, but caught sight of a smaller body laying off to the side.

------------------------------------------

Bra tapped her fingers lightly against window as she watched her mother enthusiastically greet Son Goku. They hugged, and she heard her mother say something about never coming to see them. She sighed.

"Damn you, Marron." The words were a whispered breath as her eyes squinted to catch a better sight of Son Goku's... derrière. Ever since Marron had told her of the dream where Juuhachigou had commented that Goku had a nice ass, she just couldn't stop trying to see it. She was right, though. It was not bad _at all_.

She pushed her hand against her face and sighed. She had no doubt that she had a swooned and dreamy expression on her face. She glanced down to see Son Goku's butt again, but instead caught the horrified expression of her father staring up at her. She dramatically sighed. He knew exactly what she had been thinking.

"Damn you, Marron."

"Hey, don't blame me for what your mind does."

Bra whirled around to see Marron standing at her door. "What are you doing here?!"

Marron invited herself in and walked over to the window. She looked down at Son Goku with an appreciative smile. "We mixed up a few of our bags from Tuesday's shopping trip." She looked down and saw Vegeta yelling at Son Goku. "You think _you_ have it bad? I've spent the last three nights in a row thinking about my mother and Son Goku having sex on my bed!"

Bra looked over compassionately to Marron, "Ugh, I'm so sorry."

Marron dry-sobbed and brought her hands to her face, "It was awful..."

-----------------------------------------

"My mom's going to kill me..." Goten trailed off, still holding the charred sheet, as he noticed that Trunks wasn't listening to him. He followed his friend's gaze and gasped when his eyes fell upon a small human shape.

Goten took to the air, followed immediately by Tranks, as an icy panic seized his stomach and tied it in knots. They landed next to the figure and Goten almost vomited when he realized that the figure was Pan.

She looked like she had been through a hellish battle. Her clothes were torn open in the back, and a hole big enough to fit a basketball through cut into her chest. Her hair was singed and her body was scraped.

Trunks knelt down next to her and turned her over so that she was looking into the sky. He saw faint breaths from her mouth chill in the air. It was warm weather. She looked blindly into the heavens, "Papa..."

"Pan! Pan, hold on!" Goten picked up the prone body of his niece and held her close. "Trunks! Get some help."

Trunks darted off in the general direction of ChiChi's home.

Pan let a few tears escape from her eyes as she looked at Goten blindly, "I want my Grandpa." Her eyes rolled backwards into her head, her breath stilled.

Son Pan was dead.

-------------------------------------------

"You are a whore, Pen. Throughout your life, you've sold your body, killed your pimps -- you even had sex with your own brother!"

Pan felt sick, "I don't have--"

"Silence, you can't talk to the judge of the dead that way!" One of the blue-skinned, horned people shouted at her, and she heard Lord Enma groan.

"As I was saying, Pen. You're life -- It's a sin." He took a deep breath and seemed to glare at her. "Straight to Hell you go."

Pan felt tears well in her eyes, but she stopped herself from crying. Her throat felt unbearably tight and sore, but she managed to choke out, "My name isn't Pen!"

The Lord Enma looked somewhat annoyed, "I DON'T make mistakes!"

Pan shuddered and hung her head in a mix of fear and embarrassment until the booming voice quieted.

----------------------------------------

The tears finally started falling as smoke wisped up from the floor and swirled in her face. She gave a small cough and wiped at her stinging eyes. She heard a distinct cackle from somewhere in the distance, and felt a chill race down her spine. For the first time, she took in her surroundings. It was somehow not as she had always imagined Hell.

Tears raced down her face from her eyes and deep sobs racked her body.

Pan had never wanted to be home more than she did at that moment.

---------------------------------------------------------

END CHAPTER TWO

* * *


	3. Rewind the Tape

1402  
Bura-sama  
Wednesday. May. 29. 2002  
Monday. June. 03. 2002  


Disclaimer: DBZ is copyrighted by BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION, and is licensed by FUNimation. Dragon Ball Z and all logos, character names, and distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of TOEI ANIMATION. 

Warnings: Eh.. My poor excuse for humor. There's death in the second chapter. Sex in the third. Some implied shounen-ai in the first chapter (for humor only). Eh... Cell comes off as a child molester... O__o No Pan bashing, no one is paired with anyone non-cannon (except the obvious). This is Nappa and Pan.

When the Fog Lifts, When the Smoke Fades  
_Chapter Three_

------------------------------------------

"They haven't all been about my _mother_ and Son Goku." Marron was saying as the sun started to dip below the horizon. "I was going to wait until Pan got here, but it looks like she's not coming. Anyway," she paused and looked out the window. "You were in the one I had last night."

Bra turned to her and raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Since when did you become such a perv, Marron?"

Marron turned a brilliant shade of red and looked away. "I didn't mean it like that! I meant, I dreamed about you and your father!"

Bra's skeptic look turned into one of shock and disgust, "Daddy?!"

Marron turned redder and had a somewhat pained look on her face, "No! I mean, you were taking over the world together!" Bra's look flattened out, and Marron felt that it was safe to continue. "You walked up to your father while he was training, and told him that you needed his help to conquer Earth."

"So did we do it?" Bra asked with a bored tone. Her eyes were glittering with 'evil.'

"I don't know. I woke up before it was over. It started to scare me when Trunks started helping you."

"Trunks? Trunks was _helping me and my father take over the world?_"

"Yeah, it was weird. Your dad didn't think he would at first, since he was, and I quote," She took a second to clear her throat. "'Too influenced by Kakarot and his brats.'"

Marron cracked a smile, and soon both she and Bra were rolling on the floor laughing.

---------------------------------------------

He didn't notice her at first. She came in with a stream of others from all over the universe. She had crisp black hair and sniffling black eyes. Her face held an unnatural pallor to it and her cheeks looked sunken in. Her eyes were red from her tears, some of which were still falling. Her red shirt was torn, singed, and dirty. Blood smeared her skin from below her shirt to the top of her pants.

In short, she was easy prey.

Cell grinned, he always did love a good chase, and that girl seemed capable of giving him a good time. She was older than he liked them, probably around fifteen. His eyes narrowed in thought as she looked somewhat familiar...

He took a step forward, intending to go after the girl, but a highly amused laugh from behind drew his attention away, "Hey, Cell! Get over here, we're rewinding the tape!"

Cell glowered at Frieza. They all knew how much he hated the tape. He looked back to the gates of Hell and could not see the girl. He growled softly to himself and stomped over to where Frieza and a few of the Ginyu Force were clustered about a portable television. On the screen, humans had dressed up in costumes and were wearing ridiculously too big masks as they showed everyone how Mr. Satan had defeated Cell.

Cell ground his teeth together. The insult was making his blood boil, but supposedly this was a hot item on Earth. He looked fleetingly at Frieza and his merry men before trying to find the girl again.

------------------------------------------

Pan tried to make the tears stop as she watched her shoe scuff on the dirt below her. Her attempts were futile, though. It was all coming down on her too hard and too fast. She had too much life left to live, too much _life_ for her to be in Hell. But, there wasn't anything she could do to help the situation. The Enma guy had mistaken her for someone else, and she was condemned because of it. She watched with curious fascination as her tears landed on the hard ground below her, making misshapen little dark puddles when they struck.

She continued to walk, not bothering to look where she was going. The tears evaporated after a few seconds on the ground, and that fact seemed to depress Pan even more. Not paying attention, she walked directly into something...

He had bluish-green skin, and dark green hair that was tied back behind him. He was staring down at her with dark eyes and an unreadable expression.

... or someone.

He was attractive, that Pan wasn't going to deny, but there was something about him...

He was wearing some sort of armor that looked ridiculous, and a-- Pan stopped cold. _What kind of man wears a _tiara?

"One who is very self-assured, or one who can kick your ass if you said anything about it." Pan whirled in shock and looked at the small orange-brown thing standing nearby that merely shrugged its shoulders under her stare.

She turned back to the pretty-boy and almost flinched under his stare. "And tell me, _human_, what kind of girl doesn't have any breasts?"

The comment stung, and Pan self-consciously brought her hands up to hide her chest. The blue-green man grabbed her wrist and jerked her into the air, laughing coldly. She writhed, trying desperately to get her arm loose. The man brought his other hand to her face in a hard smack and Pan cringed. She could hear a crowd of people behind her shouting out "Go, Zarbon!"

Pan shuddered all over, and felt the tears double in number. Zarbon was bringing his hand toward her again, and Pan knew she had to act fast. Pushing all of her weight up, she kicked outward and smirked in satisfaction as her shoe connected with Zarbon's chin.

He immediately dropped her, and she took the opportunity to scramble away from the scene. She could hear his curses from behind her as she made her way through the crowd.

------------------------------------------

It was hard to miss the scene of Zarbon getting his face kicked in by a slip of a girl. Cell smirked at the thought of catching her. It was true what he had said about the girl, she did indeed have a flat chest. Cell's smirk brightened. He didn't mind that fact, almost liked them with a flat chest.

She was walking his way, and Cell seized the opportunity. He grabbed hold of her arm and wiped her tears away. "Don't cry, girl."

She looked up at him with fear and anger. "I am not a little girl!" She punched wildly at him, missing by miles.

He ran a finger through her hair and tucked it behind her ear.

She took a deep, shuddering breath and closed her eyes, "Leave me alone." Her eyes opened and she looked more angry than scared of him.

That bothered Cell. They were _all_ supposed to be scared of him. He gripped a fistful of her hair and pulled on it tightly. She struggled in his vice-grip. "LEAVE --" She stopped struggling. " -- ME --" Cell frowned as the girl lowered her eyebrows in concentration. "ALONE!!" He suddenly realized that she was gathering her power and immediately dropped the girl as the blast recoiled out of her hands and struck him in the shoulder. It hurt and stung his flesh.

Grunting in pain, he looked up to see a retreating dark head of hair. He growled low in his throat and brought a hand to the wound on his shoulder. "Hell have her. I've no use for the bitch anymore."

------------------------------------------

Pan was angry as she felt the stinging in her hands. Somehow, ki blasts felt different than they had when she was alive. But that was not why she was angry. That... that BUG had sexually harassed her and it made her sick to think that he'd gotten away with it before. And that green-blue FROG thing had called her flat-chested!

Pan felt her arms cross in front of her chest by their own free will. _I'm not that vain. I don't care. I'm still young. I'm not a child. I'm not vain. I'm NOT!!_ Nausea twisted in her gut and she wanted to retch up the feeling of inadequacy. It had always bothered her, it had always been in the back of her mind that she didn't --

"Hey, kid." She spun around at the sound of the voice, and her breath stilled in her throat. "That was pretty something what you did to Cell."

Pan's vision was swimming as she felt the darkness encroach on her mind. She collapsed into a heap in front of the people before her.

------------------------------------------

END CHAPTER THREE

* * *

天下一虻道会 


	4. Pride of Saiyajins

1747  
Bura-sama --- (daring to be different)  
Friday. June. 14. 2002  
Tuesday. July. 23. 2002  
  


Disclaimer: DBZ is copyrighted by BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION, and is licensed by FUNimation. Dragon Ball Z and all logos, character names, and distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of TOEI ANIMATION. Bad disclaimer, bad. DBZ ain't mine, y'all. (It's time I start acting like the hick I was raised to be.)

Warnings: Eh.. My poor excuse for humor. There's death in the second chapter. Violence in the third. Random stuff in the next couple of chapters. Some implied shounen-ai in the first chapter (for humor only). No Pan bashing, no one is paired with anyone non-cannon (except the obvious). This is Nappa and Pan.

Author's Notes: Sorry about the delay. I just haven't had any inspiration for this fic. Anway, Nappa's introduced here. Eventually. Lots of senseless violence. Pan beats the shit out of some Saiyajins. That's about it, I guess. Oh yeah. I also realized that I absolutely HATE the title to this fic.

When the Fog Lifts, When the Smoke Fades  
_Chapter Four_

------------------------------------------

Pan groaned to herself as she opened her eyes and immediately shut them as dirt flew up. _I have to be the most cowardly Saiyajin girl in Hell_. _You knew you were in Hell, Pan. You should have expected to see Saiyajins. Common sense told you that that can not be your grandpa. Moron._ She opened her eyes again and pushed herself off of the ground. The ground seemed to shake beneath her feet as she tried to regain her balance.

She hadn't been out very long because the Saiyajin was still standing there in front of her. He looked exactly like her grandfather, only he had a _feeling_ about him that promoted malice. He was wearing purple and black armor and had a furry brown tail wrapped around his waist. He was staring down at her with a look of disgust.

"Weakling human." A man to his right sneered.

The one that looked like her grandpa continued to face her, though he looked at the other Saiyajin from the corner of his eye. "True, Raditz. She _is_ a human." He rolled his eyes back to look at her. "However, she did get a good punch in at Cell and Zarbon." He crossed his arms in front of him and kept his eyes focused on her, "Besides, Raditz... Weren't _you_ beaten on a human planet by your _human_-raised brother."

The Saiyajin -- Raditz -- mumbled something in reply. She couldn't quite catch what he said, but it sounded like 'so did you'. The other Saiyajin heard the man clearly-- he grimaced and let the subject drop. Raditz took a step forward, "Where'd you learn to fight, girl?"

Pan subconsciously took a step backwards, realized what she was doing, and stepped forward again. "My... my grandpa taught me a lot." She realized that it wouldn't be the best idea to throw her grandfathers' name around in Hell. Too many enemies might like the thoughts of revenge by getting his only grandchild. _That he knows about, _Pan added silently.Goten had always been a player, but Pan didn't like to think she had cousins out there she knew nothing about.

"I know you think you're something, girl." The unnamed Saiyajin said to her gruffly. "But don't, for one second, think you're good enough to associate with the great Saiyajin warrior race." 

Pan shivered. There was something about the man's disposition combined with her grandfather's familiar face. "O.. okay."

The Saiayjin grinned. He grabbed her shoulders and shoved her in the opposite direction. "The humans mostly congregate over there." Pan was shoved roughly against a purple-skinned alien that snarled at her and pushed her back as it continued on its way. The Saiyajin called out from behind her, "If you get there, tell 'em Turles sent you!"

------------------------------------------

Pan scoffed her shoe against the dirty, cold, scorched floor as she walked in the general direction Turles had pushed her. Along the way, she began kicking at small stones. The stones kept getting bigger as she walked, and she looked up to see a cliff edge high above her. There was someone standing at the top, glaring down on all those below. Pan picked up her pace and was soon leaning into the cliff wall. Beside her, a petite human girl was kneeling on the floor. She looked up at Pan's approach. She had a breathtakingly beautiful face, and perfectly shaped features. Her face was a look of sadness. "What happened to you?" Pan asked casually.

The girl, as young as she was, turned away from her. "Vanity really is a sin," she whispered.

Pan took a step back in shock as the girl's beauty faded away and was replaced by blue skin and roughly cropped orange hair. She hissed at Pan and the quarter-Saiyajin found herself turning in the opposite direction.

_I am a Saiyajin, _She thought to herself as she strode back the way she came. Self-conscious that the thought wasn't true, she hastily added, _Partly. My Grandpa is the most powerful fighter in the world -- the universe!_ She thought of her grandfather's smiling face, then turned her thoughts to her parents. _Mom and Dad aren't bad, either. I was raised amongst the strongest fighters alive, and if those Saiyajins have a problem with me standing in what they claim as _their_ territory, they can just get over it! _Her strides were becoming faster, her footsteps clapping against the ground with unmistakable anger. _I'm a strong girl! I bet I could beat those Saiyajins._ Secretly, she doubted herself. She had never been the big participant in a real fight; she'd always just been there to back up her grandfather. Beating up regular humans didn't count as a battle. She knew she was stronger than most people; she needed a chance to prove herself and test her own strength.

She'd never be as powerful as her grandfather, but she felt confident enough in her own strength to challenge those Saiyajins who would call her a weak human child.

She saw them again after a few minutes of walking faster than she should have been. There were new ones, this time. Pan felt a shiver of doubt. She could win against one -- two, even -- but there were five of them. She could remember Vegeta, from some of her earliest memories, telling her that the Saiyajins were the most powerful race ever. If they were all as strong as her father or her uncle...

As she approached, she took a moment to study the Saiyajins. There was Turles, standing on the left. Next to him was the long-haired Raditz. Next to him, though was a female Saiyajin. She had some sort of pink clothes under her less-bulky armor, and her hair was flatter than most of the Saiyajins she had seen. She had her hands on her hips, and was talking to a Saiyajin male in blue and black armor. Behind them stood another clone of her grandfather. He was different, though. He was darker skinned and had a scar on his face. He didn't have the same feel as her grandpa did, though he was considerably less menacing than Turles.

He was saying something to the Raditz character when he noticed her approach. He glanced her way, gave the Saiyajin-to-non-Saiyajin glare she had seen so much, and went back to talking among his group. Raditz looked up at her and scowled. "Well. The little human is back."

The other two new Saiyajins looked at her briefly, but didn't say anything. Turles's expression darkened at the fact that a weak human was defying him.

Pan marched up to Turles and stood in roughly the same spot she had occupied earlier when he had driven her off. She stomped her foot, and she crossed her arms over her chest and smirked as she had seen Vegeta do so many times. "I'm not moving from this spot."

Turles raised an eyebrow at her skeptically. Raditz was looking annoyed. He moved first and pushed her down. Her bottom hit the ground with a hard THUMP. She got to her feet and braced herself in a fighting stance. The next time he tried to push her, she wasn't going down.

"Ah.. do you want to play with the big boys?" Raditz smirked at her and seemed to have a dangerous expression on his face.

"Bring it on," She dimly realized that she was feeling over-confident, but did nothing to stop it.

Raditz jerked forward and aimed a punch that would have left a normal human dead -- well, as dead as one can get in Hell.

Moving faster than he could see, Pan kicked her leg up and knocked him backwards. His head snapped upward while his body fell down. He crashed to the ground, holding a broken nose. The wound would heal, but that knowledge didn't stop it from hurting.

She moved back into the fighting stance and didn't realize that the Saiyajin smirk was still firmly on her face. She couldn't have known it was the same smirk her entire family got when their opponent was completely outmatched.

Raditz moved to his feet with only slight hesitation. He started to strike again, but Turles stepped in front of him. "Weakling, Raditz." He sneered, "You are truly pathetic."

He jumped into the air and moved behind her. One hand tightly grasped her throat while the other struck her in the back. Pan's eyes closed in pain until she gathered her energy and shook her tormentor off. He obviously had much more of a beating planned, for he looked at her in a shocked silence. He snarled and lunged at her again. She sidestepped and landed a punch to his gut. He doubled over and fell to the ground. And stayed there.

"You're _so_ tough without your precious fruit, Turles." The female sneered as Turles slowly moaned and got to his feet.

"Shut up, Celipa. As if _you_ could do any better."

The female -- Celipa, if she had heard the name right -- merely shrugged. "I'm not going to fight the girl." She turned to the other man that looked like Grandpa Goku. "How about you, Bardock?"

The man started to speak, but a deep voice behind her stopped their informal 'battle.' "I'll fight you, girl."

_Does no one want to know my name? _Pan thought to herself as she turned to face the new person. _Or is it just too far beneath them to want to know who's kicking their asses?_ She turned and stared.

He had to have been the most hideous man she had ever laid eyes on. He was tall. Very tall. He was bald, and the veins were popping out of his head in a revolting manner. He had a thick chest that was quite possibly wider than Pan would be if she stretched her arms out. His arms and legs were as thick as tree trunks, and he looked as though he could just pop the skulls off of people who got in his way. He had no fashion sense -- barely any clothes. He had a ratty looking mustache that outlined his mouth and gave him a rather untrustworthy appearance.

In short -- Pan wanted to laugh in his face or run in terror.

She remembered something that Vegeta had said once to Trunks about how no _real_ Saiyajin would ever back out of a fight. She took a step toward him, "Fine. I'll fight you."

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END CHAPTER FOUR

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Next chapter: (I've always wanted to do these) Pan's salvation! Summon the dragon and make your wish carefully!


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